Machine for making wire splice clips



April 1'2, 1 c. J. KELLER I 1,853,062

MACHINE FOR MAKING WIRE SPLICE CLIPS File'd Dec. 13, 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet l April 12,1932 c J.IKELLER 1,853,062

MACHINE FOR MAKING WIRE SPLICE CLIPS v Filed Dec, 1:5, 1923 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 I Patented Apr. 12, 1932 UNITED STATES CLABENCE J. KELLER,- OIE ANDERSON, INDIANA. ASSIGNOR TO DELCO-REMY CORPO- ATENT oasis Barron, or nnnnson, INDEANA, a CORPORATION or DELAWARE MACHINE non MAKING WIRE "SPLICE curs App-licationfiled December 113, 19294,.Sefia1 110.413,?73.

' This invention relates 1 to apparatus for V making'splicing members for electrical con -v ductors, and more particularly the type of splicing member which consists of a short piece of metal -U -.shaped in cross section and adapted to be bent aroundwires which are to be joined. It isone vention toprovlde a machine for manufacturing a continuous seriesof U-shaped clips which are only partially separated, the clips being joined together at their yokes, the

branches. being separated. The product of such a machine is particularly adapted for being automatically fed into a splicing ma-,

chine having provisions for severing the, clips one at aetime from the supply strip and causing them tobe bent around the wires to be spliced. One example of such machine is shown in the copending application of Alva Phelps and Clarence Keller, Serial No.

491,325, filed Oct. 21, 1929. I I Further objects and advantages of the presentinventionwill be apparent from the following description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, wherein a preferred embodiment of one form of the.

present invention is clearly shown.

. achine. I

In the drawings; 7

Fig.1is a fragmentary perspective view of the machine embodying thefpresent invention. 3 p a 2and 2a are fragmentary sectional views on lines 2 2 and 2q 2a' of Fig.1, Fig. 3 is 'a fragmentaryperspective view on a larger scale showing the product of the Fig, 4-..is a, vertical longitudinal sectional view of a portionof the machine andis taken ontheline of Figs. 5 and '6.

vFigs. 5 and 6 are sectional viewstaken re? spectively on the lines 5-5and 6 -6 of Fig. 4, The apparatus comprises punchlandj die members operated lbyla punch press having abed 20, a vertically extending frame 21 which providesguides fora cross head 22 connected by a member 23 with a crank (not shown) integralwith a crank shaft 241supported by the frame 21.-- j 7 v tThe hea-d 22 carries a punch block to of the objects of the present inwhich-pilot rods 31 and 32, a shear punch 33' and a forming punch 34, are attached. The bed 20 supports a die block 35 havingsuitable apertures for receiving the pilot rods31j and 32.. The, block- 35 is provided centrally with a longitudinally extending groove .36. which receives a bar .37 securedin position by screws 38. Between pomts a and b the bar .37 is flat on =top,itsplane top surface being desig- Between hated by numerali38' in Fig. 5. point i) and point othe bar is shorter in vertical cross sectional dimension than between a and b and is provided on its top with .down

wardly diverging plane surfaces 39 and 40;

37 to provide a channel 44 for the passage of a-;rib.bon of sheet metal 100.

,The punch 33 which is attached by screws 45 to thebloick .30 is'provided at its lower end with downwardly. diverging surfaces 49 and a 50 correspondingrespectively with thesur V V faces .39 and 40 of the. bar 37. Surfaces 49 and 50am separated by notch '51 whichprovidesclearance for a stripper bar 52 located within an orifice53 provided by. the; cover 42 andin-te gral with abracket .54Lattached screws 55 to the cover 42. The left hand edges 56 of the surfaces 49 and '50. of the I pnnch 33 cooperate withthe right hand edge ofthe plane surface 38 of'thebar 37 in order 1 to shear the strip along the lines 101 and Y 102as shown in Fig. 3. and the lower .sur ,faces 49 and-50 0f the punch cooperatewith' 9t in or der. to bend these severed portions slightthe upper surfaces 39 and. 40 of the bar 37 ly ont of the plane ofthe strip 100 as clearly? seenin Figs. 3 and 5. Thus the shear punch} 33 forms pairs of oppositely disposed flaps, each pair comprising members lOla and The forming punch 34 which: is attached.

byfscrew-fii) to the block 30 is provided with a notch til 'adapted to straddle the rib 41" and r to .bendlthe .fiapslOlaand 102a from the poagainst the forming rib 41.

sitions shown in Fig. 5 into the positions shown in Figs. 3 and 6 and designated as 1011) and 1026 respectively. In this manner there are formed continuous series of U-clips which are separated at their branch portions,

but which are united at their yokes 103. The punch 34 is provided with a notch 63 continuing from the notch 61 for the purpose of providing clearance for the stripper bar 52 and also for the purpose of further dividing the punch 34 into the two parts 34a and 34b which respectively engage the branches or flaps 101a and 102a of the U-clips in order to bend them into the positions 1016 and 1026 By providing a relatively deep notch between these portions a certain amount of resiliency is provided permitting the parts 34a and 34b to spring apart slightly as they form the flaps or branches of the U-clip around the ridge 41. Consequently, less power will be required to retract the punch from the work and a relatively small stripping device can be employed for retaining the work upon the forming rib 4.1 when the punch 3-1 is withdrawn.

The continuous strip of U-clips designated at 1 is intermittently fed toward the right and is caused to be wound upon a suitable reel as the ribbon or strip 100 is fed through the punch press operated punch and die mechanism.

The ribbon or strip feeding mechanism comprises a horizontally slidable feed frame which slides along a horizontal bar 71 received by a channel-shaped groove in the frame 7 0 and retained by plate 72 attached to the frame 7 0 by screws 73. The bar 71 is a part of a stationary bracket 75 attached to the punch press frame and carrying adjustable stop screws 7 6 and 77 between which the feed frame 70 may be moved by a mechanism operated by the machine. The feed frame 70 includes a pair of parallel lugs 78 between which a block 7 9 is located. Block 79 is pivotally connected with the lower end of a lever 80, which is pivoted u on a pin 81, supported by a bifurcated mem er 82, the yoke 83 of which is attached to a rod 84 extending at right angles to the pivot pin 81. The rod 84 is pivotally supported in an apertured boss 85 provided by a bracket 86 which supports the stationary bracket 75. The lever 80 receives at its upper end, a screw 86 carrying a roller 87, the end of which bears against a cam 88 and the side of which may be engaged by a cam 89, shown more clearly in Fig. l. The cam 88 operates to move the lever 1n a plane at right angles to the pivot pin 81 in order to cause the block 79 to bear against a movable gripper 90 and to cause it to clamp the strip 100 against a stationary gripper bar 91 attached to the feed frame 70. The gripper 90 is pivoted at 92. A spring 93 resists motion of the lever 80 in a clockwise di rection and hence tends to separate the gripbars 94 and 95 between which the strip is located.

While the lobe of the cam 88 is engaging the roller 87 in order to cause the gripper 90 to clamp the strip against the bar 91, the cam 89 will engage the roller 87 in order to move the lever 80 about the axis of the pivot rod 84 in a counter-clockwise direction, in order to cause the block 79, and hence the feed frame 70, to move toward the right in order to feed the strip 100 into the punch and die device which has been described. When the cam 89 is free of the roller 87, a spring 96, connecting the frame of the punch press with the lever 80, will cause the slide frame 70 to move toward the left until it engages the stop screw 76. Obviously, the amount of feed of the strip is determined by the relative location of the roller 87 with respect to the cam 89. If greater feed is required, the screw 76 is threaded toward the left in order to permit the lever 80 to be turned clockwise by spring 96 about the pivot rod 84. This will bring the roller 87 in closer to the cam 89 so that the cooperation between the cam 89 and the roller 87 will continue for a longer period during the cycle of operation of the punch press.

In order to prevent the backing up of the strip 100 when the feed frame 70 moves toward theleft, there is provided a similar gripping device shown in Fig. 2a. This gripping device comprises a gripping lever 110 pivoted at 111 and adapted to bear against the strip 100 and clamp it against a plate 112 which is a part of the stationary bracket 7 5. A spring 113 tends to urge the lever 110 away from the strip 100 and to cause the lever 110 to bear against the block 114 attached to the lower end of a lever 115, which is fulcrumed on a pivot 116, supported by the bracket 86 and which carries at its upper end, a roller 117 urged by the spring 113 against a cam 118. As shown in Fig. 2, when the lobe of the cam 118 engages the roller 117, the gripper lever 110 will grip the strip 100.

The cams 88, 89 and 118 are mounted on the crank shaft- 24 and are so timed relative to the operation of the punch press head 22 that, when the head 22 is moving upwardly, the cam 88 will engage the end of the roller 87 in order to clamp the strip 100 between the gripping members 90 and 91. At some point during the upward movement of the head 22 the cam 89 will engage the roller 87 in order to feed the strip 100 toward the right. During the downward movement of the head 22 the roller 87 will be free of the lobes of the cams 88 and 89 in order that the spring 93 may operate to release the gripper 90 from the strip 100, and that the spring 96 may operate tomove the feed frame 70-toward the left. Also during downward move-.

ment of the head 22, the lobe of the cam 118 engages the roller 117 in order to hold the strip stationary While the feed frame 70 is backing up.

While the form of embodiment of themesent invention as hereindisclosed, constitutes a preferred form, it is to be understood that other forms might be adopted, all coming within the scope of the claim which follows.

' What is claimed is as. follows:

Apparatus for forming a strip of U-clips united at their yokes, comprising in combina-- 15, tion, means for feeding a flat strip-of sheet material longitudinally, and a punch and die device for receiving the strip and comprising a bar having. a horizontal plane surface along which thestrip is movable and having downwardly diverging surfaces located below the plane of the horizontal surface of the bar, said horizontal surface being connected with the diverging "surfaces'by abrupt vertical shoulders which provide shearing members, said bar having a relative ly narrow forming rib extending'longitudinally and horizontally from the junction of said diverging surfaces, and comprising a shearing punch having shearing members cooperating with said shoulder portions to shear the strip along lines at right angles to and part way in fromits longitudinal edges inorder to provide pairs of flaps or branches of the U-clips, and comprising a forming punch shaped to straddle the forming rib and having forming members respectively engaging the flaps of the strip on each side of the forming rib in order to bend said flaps into approximate parallelism.

49 In; testimony whereof I hereto aflix my sig nature.

CLARENCE J. KELLER. 

